Performance Art

Lilly Stene
Performance Art Project
I chose to depict a performance art done from 1983-1984 in a piece titled “Art/Life: One Year Performance 1983-1984 (Rope Piece)” by artist Tehching Hsieh. This performance was composed by Tehching Hsieh and his friend Linda Montano spending one year between July 4 1983 and July 4 1984 being tied to each other with an 8 foot long rope. They were required to remain in the same room as each other and not allowed to touch each other until the end of the one year period. They both shaved their hair in the beginning of the year, and their performance was witnessed by Pauline and Paul Grassfield. I chose to depict this performance piece because I felt that it showed a message of freedom, vulnerability, and determination to persevere even in uncomfortable situations.
I began this project by taping two pieces of drawing paper to meet the size requirements. When viewing the picture I was referring to I noticed that Montano and Hsieh were clearly different heights, so made sure to measure how many heads tall they were and mark them on the page separately. I then began to sketch out the basic proportions of Montano with graphite pencil. I had difficulty at first with finding the correct proportions of the width of her body, since she had a smaller head and broad shoulders with a skinny frame throughout the rest of her body. She was also wearing baggy clothes which made it more challenging to depict her correct proportions. After sketching out her general proportions I went back to add detail to the creases in her clothes, as well as value in her facial features. After, I began to sketch out the basic proportions of Hsieh, I began to add value to his clothing and facial features as well. I then added the rope that connects the two artists, and the gravel that they were standing on. I next went in with charcoal to start adding value to the background, but quickly realized that the contrast in intensity of tones between the charcoal and graphite didn’t look aesthetically pleasing. Instead, I decided to incorporate ink into my piece. I painted over the charcoal with black ink, then took a much smaller brush to begin adding value and outlining Montano and Hsieh. I accidentally painted over the rope when originally using ink, and did not have white acrylic paint. So I looked online and found inspiration of artists using white out as a medium in their pieces and was inspired to do the same. I used white out to go over where the rope was originally placed, and then cleaned up the edges with a tiny brush with black ink. For the ground, I wanted to add texture as it had appeared to be a gravel ground they were standing on in the original photo. I used the edges of a very wide and large paint brush that I used to paint the background, and stippled it across the page. I thought this added an abstract appeal and was glad that I chose to use this method instead of painting the ground a light grey.

Sources:
https://www.tehchinghsieh.com/artlife-oneyearperformance1983-1984

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-performance-artist-tied-woman-year/amp\

https://www.google.com/amp/s/culturacolectiva.com/art/tehching-hsieh-one-year-performance/amp

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/tehching-hsieh-when-life-becomes-a-performance/

https://www.tehchinghsieh.com/biography

Images: